Are customers looking for more than a sandwich at lunchtime when they visit the new M&S cafe in Dundee?
The East Dock Street store opened July 16 and it has caused a stir in the city.
The mammoth store includes a huge area for clothes, accessories, food and upstairs, there is a wee cafe too.
The menu at this new cafe includes sandwiches, salads and wraps.
There are also some pastries, like a cheese and onion slice, or sausage rolls. Bacon rolls are on offer in the morning.
But the previous menu at the East Dock Street and Murraygate stores included the likes of baked potatoes, fish and chips and several types of soup.
We decided to visit the M&S cafe to see if we found it lacking with this new menu.
What food is on offer at the Dundee M&S cafe?
On our visit, the shelves are packed with plenty of cold sandwiches.
There’s prawn mayo, egg mayo, salmon and cream cheese, tomato mozzarella and pesto brioche and many more.
But the hot options are limited.
On our visit, the hot options included:
- Cheese and onion slice
- Sausage roll
- Peppered steak slice
- Chicken, bacon and leek slice
- Bacon roll
- Sausage bun
- Omelette bun
Toasties can also be heated up behind the counter.
Older customers – of which there are many at M&S on our visit – tend to be fond of a hot lunch.
But there’s no chance of a senior’s portion of fish and chips in this cafe.
What did we think of the lunch choices at M&S in Dundee?
For variety, we tried out three options from the menu.
First off, is the “Scandi style” salmon and cream cheese sandwich (£5.50).
This is pretty steep for a pre-packaged sandwich, but I’m willing to withhold judgement until I have a taste.
It’s important to note that the salmon and cream cheese sandwich downstairs in the food shop costs £4.25. Admittedly, this is less impressive than the cafe’s one.
This sandwich comes with the addition of pink pickled onion and baby spinach.
The sandwich is delicious, and there’s a generous portion of salmon between the thick rye bread.
However, despite a strong start, I am sadly put off my sandwich by finding either a small bone or piece of plastic inside.
Next up, we tried the three cheese and onion toastie (£7).
Again, this is a pricy one.
But it is packed with quality ingredients: Barber’s cheddar, red Leicester, Emmental and red onion.
This tastes amazing. The salty, gooey toastie has plenty of sharpness to it, and the bite of the onion adds variety in texture.
The herby topping to the bread is reminiscent of garlic bread, and the thick slice is crunchy and tasty.
But it is just a bit too expensive to pay for a toastie at a chain. Especially when independent eateries in town offer toasties for the same price – or less – with a side salad and crisps.
The last food item we tried was the feta and fruity cous cous salad (£6).
We felt that the price was justified for this one.
It came with a tasty beetroot mint dip, baby spinach leaves, pumpkin seeds, whole chickpeas and other veg.
This was filling and packed with flavour. There was plenty of feta – rare for a premade salad – and the baby spinach tasted fresh and crisp.
Could you handle a ‘magic coffee’?
We also tried a drink each at Marks and Spencer in Dundee.
We were both intrigued by the thought of the “magic coffee” on the menu; but upon discovering this involves two ristretto (highly-concentrated espresso) shots, we decided neither of us could handle the caffeine buzz.
Instead, we tried the tiramisu iced latte (£3.80). This was delicious. The cocoa flavoured we associate with tiramisu really came through.
This was intriguing too, and definitely lived up to my expectations.
It was creamy and the flavour was present throughout. The addition of whipped cream on top added to the feeling of luxury.
Hopefully M&S Dundee keep this item on the menu.
Lastly, we tried the iced mocha (£3.60). This was tasty, but the consistency was a little off.
It was rather powdery, and we couldn’t taste much coffee in there.
With the miserable, rainy day outside on the day of our visit, we were looking for some satisfying grub which provides that cosy feeling.
Without those hot food options of old, it did feel like something was lacking, especially for those making a day out of it, which many from older generations do.
The menu at M&S Dundee is perfectly acceptable for a quick bite during your work lunch break, but it’s not ideal if you’re looking for a warming meal.
A spokesperson for M&S said: “The Coffee Shop has been incredibly popular since opening with sales up double digit compared to our previous Dundee Cafe offerings and we’ve had great feedback from customers on the new menu and barista-made coffee.
“We have rigorous quality controls in place for all our sandwiches and are investigating with our supplier.”
The M&S spokesperson also offered a refund or a voucher to make up for the issue with the sandwich.
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